I voted B, but I felt the exact same way last year. I'm chided by other Cleveland fans all the time for my optimism, but for 2 years now I haven't been able to shake the feeling that this team has destiny written all over it.

As well as Orlando has been playing the last couple of months, I can't help believing that we have the answers for that team this time around. And I really can't believe a LeBron James team will ever lose in the crunch to a team with The Vince Carter as a go-to guy.

It'll be tough- really tough- but we can beat Orlando. And if we beat Orlando we'll beat Los Angeles. The Lake Show simply can't handle us.

hermanfontenot wrote:As well as Orlando has been playing the last couple of months, I can't help believing that we have the answers for that team this time around. And I really can't believe a LeBron James team will ever lose in the crunch to a team with The Vince Carter as a go-to guy.

It'll be tough- really tough- but we can beat Orlando. And if we beat Orlando we'll beat Los Angeles. The Lake Show simply can't handle us.

the problem is, vince isn't their go to guy. dwight howard is. i worry about orlando a lot. i've watched a lot of their games trying to 'scout' them and i am very worried about them. worried about mo getting set afire by jameer. worried about delonte going goofy and disappearing. worried about lebron going le-iso for entire halves of games. and most of all i'm worried that a much younger and hungrier dwight howard finally decides to put old shaq in his place. i'm not saying the cavs cannot beat them. they might be able to. but i already know orlando can beat cleveland because i've already seen it happen.

all of these 'wait until the 4th quarter to turn it on' efforts by the cavs only make me question them even more. if they think they can jack off for 3 quarters and then get after it in the 4th and beat out a team like orlando and even boston for that matter, well, we're all gonna be some sad fans pretty soon.

"Meh. Calling me names on the internet is really no big deal, happens all the time." - e0y2e3

Beating Orlando is going to be very difficult. That series, if it comes to pass, is going to be a war. If Orlando wins it, they'll win it in six again. If the Cavs win it, it will take seven games. Bank on it.

I'm not really concerned about the Cavs pissing around for three quarters in the closing weeks of the regular season with virtually insurmountable leads over every other team. Can't read too much into that.

What really concerns me about the Cavs is that they don't seem to shoot as well as the other contenders from outside. It's odd because AP and Mo are among the league leaders in 3PT percentage, but it really seems like teams like Orlando, Boston and even Atlanta can be carried by their outside shooting. They can lose some of the battles in the paint and still be OK if they're hot from outside.

The Cavs just aren't going to shoot well enough to do that. Doesn't help that LBJ and Co. tend to jack up a lot of ill-advised shots. The Cavs need to score inside and win the battles close to the basket, because they're generally not going to win a perimeter pissing contest with other playoff teams.

That's what has me a little wary. Scoring is much harder for the Cavs (sans LeBron) than other teams like Orlando that can put up 12 points in the span of four or five possessions without hardly entering the paint.

There is nothing easy about the way the Cavs play. They have to work very hard at both ends of the floor to get the stops and scores that sustain them. The Cavs will be relying on their depth in the playoffs more than some prognosticators might realize. "Play eight, trust seven" might be more like "Play ten, trust nine."

You have to fully believe that this team IS capable of winning it all but it isn't gonna be no cake walk. If the Cavs draw the Bucks (with a healthy Bogut), Charlotte or even Miami is is gonna be tough. Boston or Atlanta is gonna be a battle and Orlando is going to be an all out WAR. Then, maybe, we can talk Lake Show.

But the bottom line is, unlike last year, the Cavs are capable of beating each and every one of these teams... but it is not going to be easy.

So get ready for some up and downs, some ball-kicking defeats and a few sh!t shows thrown in. It's going to happen.

DrPoove wrote:You have to fully believe that this team IS capable of winning it all but it isn't gonna be no cake walk. If the Cavs draw the Bucks (with a healthy Bogut), Charlotte or even Miami is is gonna be tough. Boston or Atlanta is gonna be a battle and Orlando is going to be an all out WAR. Then, maybe, we can talk Lake Show.

But the bottom line is, unlike last year, the Cavs are capable of beating each and every one of these teams... but it is not going to be easy.

So get ready for some up and downs, some ball-kicking defeats and a few sh!t shows thrown in. It's going to happen.

But believe that this team is capable of and going to win it all.

My 10 pesos.

It's why the playoffs are the playoffs. It's supposed to be tense, brutal, and series are supposed to be capable of swinging on a couple of plays one way or the other.

Cavs are definitely capable of winning a title, but it's going to be a meat grinder. We need to get ready for it.